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(Graded) Deep Dive #1 - Taking a Look Back at the SMJHL's Oldest Franchise
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RandominoeRegistered Senior Member
(Deep Dive #1 - 542 Words)
The Vancouver Whalers are the most storied franchise in the entire SMJHL. They are one of the two longest-lasting franchises that continue to play in the league since originating in the very first season. With the Anchorage Armada having rebranded twice in their history since that means the Whalers are the only original branding that has survived the nearly sixty-season history of the league. Kane.88 was the founder and first GM of this franchise from Vancouver, and since then the torch has been passed to twenty other general managers, including the likes of now co-commissioner luketd, and owner DrunkenTeddy among others. Boom is the current general manager in Vancouver, having taken over from his predecessor dmills3 after spending four seasons as the Co-GM behind him. The duo ended an eight-season cup drought for the Whalers in S56, with a team almost entirely created by them. The cup-winning team was also captained by one of dmills3 and boom's first draft selections together, in S53 second-round pick Ryosuke Sato. Speaking of draft selections, Vancouver has made many of them in their long history, but we will look directly at notable first-round selections that the franchise has made over the seasons. Back in the S34 SMJHL Entry Draft, the Whalers pulled a Brian Burke-esque move by selecting Robert Phelps and Sophia Bennett with the first and second overall picks respectively. Phelps played 150 games for the Whalers over 3 seasons, scoring 32 goals and assisting 76 times for 108 SMJHL points. Bennett matched the number of games played by Phelps, over her SMJHL career scored 58 goals, and assisted 57 times to surpass Phelps' point total with 115 points. Many other great names have come through the Vancouver franchise, often going on to have excellent professional careers in the SHL with a multitude of teams. Let's go back to four-star championships and dissect the team's history in regards to their cup victories. It took the Vancouver based franchise 10 seasons of existence before claiming their first Four-Star cup. It was Phil, who was the general manager at the time, who elevated the team beyond their 2nd overall place in the regular season and secured the playoff title for the Whalers. Then, in S14 and S15 we saw the Whalers win their first ever back to back championships under their GM Hallsy. The following GM in succession, coolstar87 also won two championships during his reign, which came in the form of another back to back in S18 and S19. Continuing on through memory lane, JHS was at the helm of the team when they won the Four-Star cup in S24. Following that the Whalers had another back-to-back championship streak where two different GMs led the team to the titles this time. In S35 it was Kai, and in S36 it was JR95. DrunkenTeddy was mentioned before as a prominent GM of the franchise but never won a championship as GM. After DT passed the torch to Dadam, they went on to win another cup in S43 for the franchise. Finally, it was luketd who won the Whaler's tenth championship in S48. Boom is now entering his second season as general manager and clearly has big shoes to fill to impress the Vancouver faithful. Approved +5 TPE @Randominoe |
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